The next morning Hajime and Chiaki woke up as usual.

"Hey Chiaki did you help me into my bed last night?" Hajime asked.

"Yep" Chiaki said.

"Thanks for that" Hajime said," I wanted to wait for you, but you were out for so long that I fell asleep".

"I'm sorry" Chiaki apologized.

"No it's fine" Hajime said," it's not like you can control how long you're going to be out of it"

" it would be nice if I could" Chiaki said.

"On the bright side miss Hanamura helped me restock our food supplies" Hajime said," she even made a few meals for us to eat".

"That's good" Chiaki said.

"Here, try this" Hajime offered an apple," just take a bite out of it".

Chiaki nibbled at the apple like a mouse before taking bigger bites. As she ate she noticed not just the unique texture, but also a sensation on her tongue she never experienced before.

"Well?" Hajime asked," how is it?"

"It's crunchy and juicy" Chiaki said," but I have this weird feeling on my tongue".

"That's called taste" Hajime said," it probably taste sweet to you".

"Hmm" Chiaki hummed.

...

After breakfast, Chiaki raised her keyblade and located the next world that contained a heart fragment.

"This time we're headed to the world of zen" Hajime said.

"What is zen?" Chiaki asked.

"It's a calm state of mind" Hajime said," that world is notorious for how peaceful it is"

"Like sleeping?" Chiaki asked.

"Kind of" Hajime said," it'll be nice to get a break from all those crazy worlds"

"What if there's another hopeless?" Chiaki asked.

"I'll take that over trudging through another swamp" Hajime said.

...

They arrived at the world of zen during midday. From the outside they could see dozen upon dozens of bamboo stalks growing all over the island. There was a humble dock for them to dock so they did. As they walked on the dock the two felt a calming breeze.

"See I told you this place was peaceful" Hajime said.

"It's very quiet" Chiaki said.

"Well that's kind of the point" Hajime said.

...

The two walked through the bamboo forest till they came upon a town. Surprisingly the town was filled with people all moving about without a care.

"I guess there isn't a Hopeless here" Hajime said," what do you think Chiaki?".

Hajime looked down to see Chiaki hiding behind him. She didn't look scared, but it was clear that she wasn't comfortable either.

"I guess you've never seen this many people before" Hajime said to which Chiaki nodded," don't worry no one will hurt you"

Chiaki still refused to move from Hajimes back.

"Here, why don't you hold my hand" Hajime offered.

Chiaki was a bit hesitant but ultimately decided to take his hand since he offered. When she took his hand it felt firm yet softly warm. Something about holding his hand filled her with comfort probably because she trusted him.

Hand in hand, Chiaki and Hajime walked through the village. Little did they know someone was watching them.

"Excuse me" Hajime asked a shop keeper," do you know how to get to this worlds shrine?"

"Why of course, you can use this map" the shopkeeper said.

"How much?" Hajime asked.

"Free of charge" the shopkeeper said.

"Why is that?" Hajime asked.

"You two just look so cute together that it brightened up my day" the shopkeeper smiled.

"Oh, thank you" Hajime blushed.

...

Once the two got far away enough from the town, Chiaki released Hajimes hand.

"What's that word you use to convey gratitude?" Chiaki asked.

"Thank you" Hajime said.

"Thank you Hajime for holding my hand" Chiaki said.

"Of course, it's not a problem" Hajime said," now let's get to that shrine".

The two walked off and ,soon after, someone followed them.

...

After a not too difficult walk, Chiaki and Hajime saw the shrine steps. However before they could continue on, there was a loud screech that shattered the silence. Following the screech, a giant crane hopeless appeared. It's white body was covered in black flower patterns that made it like it was wearing a kimono. The red eyed crane hopeless possessed an orange heart insignia on its chest.

Chiaki readied her keyblade, but then the crane hopeless used its big fan like wings to create a gust of wind that blew her and Hajime away. After the gust of wind, the crane hopeless performed a little dance. Before Hajime and chiaki could recover, the crane hopeless stretched its neck forward to try to peck out Hajimes heart. The crane almost succeeded had someone not acted like they did.

"Not today bitch!" A feminine voice yelled.

Chiaki looked to see a blonde haired girl jump out of the bamboo forest wielding a spear. Using the spear, the girl jabbed it into the cranes head and forced it down to the ground.

"Hey, doe eyes!" The girl shouted to chiaki," uses that key thing or whatever and kill this thing"

Chiaki raised her keyblade and aimed at the heart insignia before firing her key beam. The crane cried out before devolving into shadow. Only a few hearts escaped the despairing darkness including one heart that entered chiakis key blade.

"Thank you for helping us" Chiaki said to the girl.

The girl ignored Chiaki and moved right over to Hajime. Hajime looked up at the girl a little fearful. Just then the girl grabbed Hajime by the collar before proceeding to yell at him.

"Where the hell were you?!" the girl yelled at him," I don't give me that 'I went to find myself' crap!"

"Na..natsumi...I..can't breathe" Hajime choked prompting the girl to drop him.

"Tsk, you're so pathetic" the girl said," I'm surprised to see you found a girl to take pity on you".

"Who are you?" Chiaki asked with a tilted head.

"Sorry about that" the girl said," the name's Natsumi Fuyuhiko"

"I'm Chiaki" Chiaki said.

"So how did a delicate girl like you end up with Hajime?" Natsumi asked.

"He rescued me..I think" Chiaki said causing natsumi to burst into laughter.

"Are you saying this pathetic sap saved you?" Natsumi asked as she pointed to Hajime.

"Yes" Chiaki said causing natsumi to laugh even more.

"I'm stronger than you remember" Hajime said after his throats recovered.

"Please, you'll always be a scrub to me" natsumi laughed.

"I'm not a scrub" Hajime growled.

"Scrubby Hajime" natsumi chanted with a smile.

"Have you two met before" Chiaki asked.

"Yeah, me and Hajime use to be in the same class of reserve knights" natsumi said," Hajime always acted like a big eyed puppy in that class it was so pathetic"

"What are reserve knights?" Chiaki asked.

"It was some program to turn average people into extra knights for the royal family, but it never came to fruition" natsumi explained.

"It's ancient history" Hajime said a bit irritated," come on Chiaki let's just get the heart fragment and go"

"Hey, hold your ass for a minute" natsumi said," why don't you spend the night at my place, my treat"

"We're fine" Hajime said.

"Fine?" Natsumi asked," you both smell like shit"

"What is shit?" Chiaki asked.

"You don't need to know" Hajime said," fine we'll take your offer"

"Great, this is gonna be fun" natsumi said," but knowing how directionless you are, I should stick with you while you visit the shrine and then I'll show you to my house"

"Thank you" Chiaki said.

"Your welcome" natsumi cheekily smiled.

...

The trio scaled the stairs and reached a shrine made of jade. Floating over the alter, was a fragment of nanamis heart. Chiaki reached out to the heart fragment causing it to float into her hands. Delicately she pushed the heart fragment into her chest. This time she was numbed to the fiery feeling and fainted peacefully.

...

"Hey mom did that boy become a knight?"

'I'm afraid not'

"Really? Why?"

'Your father sensed weakness and despair in his heart'

"But everyone has despair in their hearts"

'I'm sorry but his heart just wasn't strong enough to be a knight'

"Why do people have despair in their hearts?"

'It's just how the world is. When our hope dies, despair is born'

"That's so sad"

'That's why it is our job to guide and protect everyone from despair'

"Okay"

'Don't worry, I'm sure you will become a wonderful queen in time'

...

When chiaki woke up, she found herself in a large silk bed. The room she was in looked like the world of zen. As chiaki looked around she noticed Hajime wasn't with her, so she opened the door to look for him. When she opened the door and entered the hallway she heard Hajime and natsumi talking. She followed their voices all the way to the dinning room. There natsumi and Hajime were eating a buffet of food.

"Oh Chiaki your finally awake" natsumi said," you were out for so long that spikey here almost barged into your room. The lowly pervert"

"I'm not a pervert, I was just worried" Hajime said," stop saying that stuff before Chiaki starts repeating some of it"

"What is a pervert?" Chiaki asked.

"You don't need to know" Hajime said," just please don't repeat anything natsumi says that you don't understand"

"Okay" Chiaki nodded.

"Geez your just as hard assed as ever" natsumi said.

"And your just as spoiled as ever" Hajime retorted.

"Touché Hajime" natsumi said," now that chiaki's awake she can take a bath".

"What's a bath?" Chiaki asked.

"Did you seriously not tell her what a bath was?" Natsumi asked," whatever, I'll just show her how to do it".

Hajime got a bit flustered after that last part"

"Geez your such a pervert" natsumi said," were both girls so it's natural".

...

After natsumi showed Chiaki how to bathe and rinse, the two soaked in the big outdoor bath under the stars.

"So I know about the pure heart and all those hopeless beast" natsumi said," that's probably why my brother and peko disappeared"

Chiaki tilted her head and stared at natsumi.

"I still can't believe you're a nobody" natsumi said," you look an act so human"

"I don't fully understand my existence" Chiaki said," all I know is that I have to collect the heart fragments".

"But isn't there anything else you want?" Natsumi asked.

"I guess if I really had to, I would want to stay with Hajime" Chiaki said.

"Yeah Hajime sure is a nice guy" natsumi said," you want to know a secret?"

"What?" Chiaki asked.

"I use to be in love with Hajime" natsumi said," but don't tell him that"

"What happened?" Chiaki asked.

"He just disappeared all of the sudden" natsumi explained," I waited for weeks then months, but I never saw him again till now"

"Where did he go?" Chiaki asked.

"I don't know, but whatever made him disappear must have changed him some how" natsumi said," he's a little more confident than he was back then"

"Is that why you don't love him anymore?" Chiaki asked

"No, cause a few months after he disappeared that's when I stopped loving him" natsumi said," I needed to move on with my life and I did"

"You can stop loving people?" Chiaki asked

"Yeah, but it's not always easy" natsumi said," why do you love someone?"

"I don't know" Chiaki said," nobodies can't feel emotions like love"

"Who told you that crap?" Natsumi asked," cause they're probably full of shit"

"Why?" Chiaki asked.

"Because what they said to you can't be true" natsumi said.

"Thank you natsumi" Chiaki said.

"You're welcome" natsumi said," just don't tell Hajime about anything I told you"

"Okay" Chiaki nodded.

...

After the bath, natsumi let Chiaki sleep in her bed while she slept in a futon. Hajime slept elsewhere on natsumi orders. Chiaki curled up in the sheets and fell right to sleep.